Image © Healy Racing
Michael Ronayne enjoyed a particularly meaningful success when his homebred Notsomethingelse got off the mark at Castletown Geoghegan, providing him with a first winner as a handler, and doing so virtually on his doorstep.
Originally from Dungarvan in County Waterford, Ronayne is now based just a few hundred yards from the County Westmeath venue, making the result all the more significant. His late father, Michael, also trained from the family home in Dungarvan.
“I live about 500 yards from the track,” he said. “So to win there, and to have already won the confined back home in Dungarvan this year as well, it’s been great. People have been ringing me all day about it.”
That earlier success came through Somethinghonest, whom he bred and owns, with the six-year-old Idaho mare landing the five-year-old and upwards adjacent hunts maiden at Dungarvan on January 25th for Paul Kiely. She is now in foal to Dee Ex Bee.
Notsomethingelse, who he also bred, owns and trains, is very much a home-produced success, with Ronayne overseeing her preparation at his Ballyhast base.
“She’s my own, I ride her out myself every day – who else would do it?”
The mare had been knocking on the door prior to this breakthrough, with five placed efforts to her name, and this was a deserved success. Ronayne always felt her turn would come despite a series of setbacks along the way.
“We thought she was the one a long time ago, but she just kept running into something a little bit better. She’s a bit one-paced, but her form was good. She met a couple of smart ones along the way.”
In the six-runner adjacent hunt winners’ race, the eight-year-old daughter of Jet Away was ridden by Ollie Gilligan and made smooth headway to dispute the lead from three out. She went on to take a narrow advantage before the last and kept on well from there to score by two and a half lengths, providing Gilligan with his second winner.
“She won well in fairness, and young Gilligan gave her a super ride. She could have been in the first three just as easy, but he gave her a great ride and got the best out of her.”
Her success came after a frustrating run of interruptions, which also explains her name.
“If it’s not one thing with her, it’s another. We had six goes at her and something strange happened every time. We knew she was alright, but things just never went right for her until now.”
Despite the long wait, her future now lies away from the track.
“We’ll cover her now. That was always the plan once she got her day.”
Ronayne’s operation is primarily centred around breeding at Ballyhast, where he keeps a number of mares and also takes in outside mares for foaling. He trains his runners using his own fields at home, while also making use of Simon Cavanagh’s gallop locally.
“We’re only doing this for sport really. The breeding side is the main thing. Everything here is young stock and most of them get sold.”
Time constraints have also limited his numbers of runners in recent seasons, having gone without a runner between April 2022 and December 2024.
“Time is the biggest thing. This time of year especially, there’s a lot going on. I’d be out here all day and into the night.”
He was also full of praise for Tommy Geoghegan, who plays a key role riding any fast work and schooling the mare.
“Tommy comes in and rides a lot of the work for me. He’s a big help and he deserves a lot of the credit.”
The success was also shared with his daughter Cleo, a 21-year-old law student at Trinity College, who has developed a keen interest in racing and was on hand to welcome the mare back into the winners’ enclosure.
“She loves it. We go racing together and make a day of it, so she got a great kick out of it.”
Looking ahead, there is already another potential runner in the pipeline, with a half-sister to Notsomethingelse by Old Persian set to be prepared for next season.
“We have her half-sister there, so we’ll give her a go next year and see what happens. You never know.”
With success both at home in Dungarvan and now on his doorstep at Castletown Geoghegan, it has been a rewarding season for Ronayne.
